Tackle Review

The Euro Developments Euro Cat Bait Boat
by Kieron Axten.

The name of the game with bait boats is reliability. If you have ever had to rescue a conked out boat from an 85-acre lake at 2 o’clock in the morning, or waited weeks for repairs to be carried out, you will know what I mean.

If you have had no trouble at all from your bait boat, then you are either extremely lucky or you might just be the proud owner of a Euro cat.

The boat is moulded in two main parts made from tough plastic and fully waterproof. The lower half is black and the upper half comes in either black or racing car green. Although these are fishing friendly colours, they aren’t exactly the most visible. I have put some day glow stickers on mine, and find it helps enormously when fishing at long range.

Compared to other commercially available boats, it’s huge. But when you see it at work on big waters or in rough weather it suddenly doesn’t seem so large. Okay so it won’t fit in your Fox box, but it comes with it’s own waterproof bag to aid carrying to the bank side.

Here are some of the features of the boat: (the colours correspond with the picture.)

Independently controlled motors (yellow spots)
If you’re used to a remote controlled boat with a single propeller and a rudder, then you’re in for a new experience. The Euro Cat has no rudder to steer the boat.

Instead it has two independently controlled motors. To steer right you have to apply more power to the left motor and vice versa. It is odd at first, but after a while you get used to it.

The motors are powered by two rechargeable 6-volt Sealed Lead Acid batteries, which incidentally are better than Ni Cad batteries because they run out slowly rather than all of a sudden. Two continental style chargers are included, so you will need to buy some plug adaptors to use them in the UK

You soon learn that if you want to spin the boat around, it’s better if you’re not going too fast, and you use a little reverse thrust on the opposite channel.

It zips along at full speed, but thanks to the digital speed controls is also capable of going really slowly and quietly. My only fly to pick is that reversing seems a little sluggish.

Two “tube like” weed guards protect the propellers, drilled with maximum sized holes to minimise any detriment to performance.

You also get some lubricant spray for the propeller tubes.

Navigation lights (red spots)

Available at the flick of a switch on the handset are four large LEDs, green on one side and red on the other, so you can tell which way the boat is turning. For long-range work though, I recommend attaching a small red bicycle light so you can be sure of the back of the boat.

Also a torch type headlight comes on but don’t expect to see far bank features with it, it’s really just for navigation.

Variable release stainless steel hopper (green spots)

A rotary knob on the handset operates the “bomb door” type hopper, which can hold in excess of two kilos of bait. You can open them as little or as much as you like, enabling spreading of bait over a large area.

When fully opened, the two stainless steel doors are vertical. So there is very little chance of bait sticking.

When I first had my boat, the bay doors where not aligned correctly. But with a few helpful words from Phil Roots, I was able to adjust them to perfection. Now they operate cleanly and smoothly.

If you want your hook bait to drop smack bang in the middle of the freebies you can place it in the hopper. But you may need to use tubing to protect your mainline from pinching in the bay doors.

Rear rig/back lead dropper (black spots)

This clever little device really works! Why didn’t I think of it?

The hook is hooked round an exposed piece of nylon rod and secured with a push on rubber grommet. A dedicated switch on the handset reverses the appropriate servomotor and the attached nylon releases the hook or back lead. Brilliant!

 

 

 

Side rig droppers (blue spots)

Working on the same principle are two detachable metal rods which when fitted hold two more hook baits a foot or so away from either side of the boat.

You thread the stiff nylon through the rods, and a 3-way switch operates the attached servo, which can drop the baits individually.

Everything tucks nicely away inside the boat when not in use.

Back up power supply (pink spot on handset)
The main batteries should last about an hour and a half, which is quite a long time in terms of running baits out. A spare set of batteries will cost you £45 off Phil.There is a small light on the back of the boat that flashes to let you know that the power supply is healthy.

If it does run out whilst in use there is a reserve battery available via the flick of another remote control switch, giving you around another half hour to get it back in.

This is a fantastic feature helping to make this probably the most reliable bait boat on the market.

And Finally
The handset, which comes with a see through waterproof cover, takes eight AA batteries (not included) and has a built in power meter to keep a watchful eye on them.

I don’t know a great deal about radio gear, so I asked my brother in law who runs a model club for his opinion. He said that Graupner, (whose name is on the handset, so presuming the receiver and servomotors are the same), are reliable. And all the visible components are good quality ones and the boat is impressively built in general.

Two plastic wing nuts hold the top “frame”(incorporating the navigation lights) in place. When this is removed you can easily access the battery compartments, install the side bait droppers and keep the grease tubes topped up. You can also view some of the boat workings including motors, speed controls, fuses and several of the servos.

I like the fact that you have some chance of identifying faults yourself should they occur, before you go sending it back to Phil for something silly.

I have had a few minor problems, but they have been my fault. I had to glue one of the weed guards back on after I plonked it down too hard, I had to rescue it from thick floating debris once, and I had to replace the handset aerial after over tightening it.

Although I have only had mine for one year, I am confident it will last for many more. I shall try and keep you updated on its performance as time goes by.

I can’t claim to have used every bait boat on the market, my final comment shall have to be in agreement with the Euro Developments advert:

“You’ve seen the rest – now try the best.”

£699

For sales and service contact Phil Roots on 0181 949 9147 or 0973 539 349 *

*correct at the time of writing